Posters ridicule Manjhi, BJP outside Nitish residence

With senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar all set to take charge on Sunday as Bihar Chief Minister for the fourth time and party workers in a festive mood, several posters and hoardings ridiculing former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and rival BJP have surfaced around his residence.

Patna: With senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar all set to take charge on Sunday as Bihar Chief Minister for the fourth time and party workers in a festive mood, several posters and hoardings ridiculing former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and rival BJP have surfaced around his residence.

In varied colours and sizes, the posters are propped on bamboo poles for several metres along the stretch of 7, Circular Road which is Kumar's residence.

Drawing inspiration from the 'Mahabharata', one poster shows Kumar dressed as Arjun, shooting arrows at his rivals, including Manjhi and senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar.

Another one portrays Manjhi on a sinking boat surrounded by BJP leaders from the state.

Yet another portrays Kumar being eulogized by saffron party stalwarts like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. The words that they said in his praise are prominently printed to grab the attention of passers-by.

However, when asked why the posters ridiculing Manjhi or BJP have been put up, JD (U) leaders said they were not the handiwork of the party.

"These posters are not put up by our party. They are individual posters and could have been put up by our supporters," said JD (U) spokesperson and MLC, Neeraj Kumar. The spokesperson added that some of the posters which are in bad taste could have been propped up by rivals of JD(U) to show the party in bad light.

"We don't want to ridicule anybody. Our well-wishers would certainly not indulge in such things," he added.

Neeraj Kumar pointed out that it was the BJP which had always played the game of posters.

"Nobody has forgotten, how it showed our leader Nitish Kumar at the feet of RJD Chief Lalu Prasad with Manjhi sitting on a throne and laughing. It was a big insult to our leader, but we kept quiet," he added.

The JD(U) spokesperson said such posters send bad message to the society, and added that he will see to it that they are removed from the road outside Nitish Kumar's residence.